Our church is getting big. Already we have had to go to two services, which is kind of an adjustment for such a close knit congregation.

One of the reasons that our church is getting bigger is because we just seem to love to reproduce (or adopt). I have been going to Saint Elmo Presbyterian since 1998 and in those 7 years, there has never been a time when there wasn’t a pregnant woman in our church. Usually it was just one or two women, but about 2 years ago a boom happened and it seemed like every time we turned around we were praising God for a new life in our church family. In 2003, for about 3 months straight we had a baptism for a new covenant child at least 2 Sundays a month.

I remember these things because it was during those 2 years that I was bitter about the baby boom. I was bitter because I thought was being left out.

Church was the hardest place for me to go because it was a constant reminder that the thing I wanted the most was currently not in my cards. I cried during the baptisms, sometimes leaving the church service to weep at my sorrow. I even refused the Lord’s Supper once, because I knew that my heart was not in the right place and I should not partake. I got angry at God, thinking that He was doing this to me.

Instead, I think He was doing this for me. That time of bitterness, sorrow, and anger has changed my approach to worship. Each week, instead of seeing “going to church” as a duty, I look forward to the time I get to go to church and praise God, pray to Him, and learn from His word.

When a child is baptized in the church, there are questions that are asked of the parents. But the last question is asked of the church family:

Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting the parents in the Christian nurture of this child?

When I answer yes to that question, I delight in the fact that I will be able to see this child grow in God through various aspects that I will “assist.” One of those ways I get to assist is to help out in the church nursery.

With a growing church family, we have to have lots of help in the nursery. And even though I am not in the church service, I can still worship God while playing with the little ones. I can delight in each child, who is a creation of God, and praise Him for the gifts that He has given the parents. I can pray for each baby and toddler, knowing that is God who is protecting them.

So, today, when I enter the nursery for my “duty” I will be worshipping the one true God, whose likeness is displayed in their little faces.

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